Baptisms and Christenings
We speak of christening things - a new car, even a warship - but the origin of the word suggests that a person who is christened is made like Christ. If the door into the church is the way into the building then the font (or pool) where a Baptism or Christening takes place is the way into the church. It is a new beginning, an initiation process, a rite of passage - and it can be so for adults just as much as it can for babies
Being Baptised is not a legal ceremony and it does not involve the paying of any fees although contributions to the church collection are always welcome. Having said it's not a legal thing should a Baptised member of the Church of England marry a Roman Catholic then the Catholic priest will need to see the C of E person's Baptism Certificate (so that they are not re-baptised).
The primary qualification for anyone to be Baptised at St. John's, Oulton, is that they should live in the parish. However this can be got round if you contact the priest for the parish church where you live and he/she gives permission for the Baptism to take place elsewhere (here, for example).
There are no great hoops to jump through with Baptism. All you need do is ring (or email) the vicar and arrange a Sunday for the Baptism to take place. At St. John's we normally do Baptisms on the first Sunday of the month at 10.00a.m. as part of the main Parish Communion service. The vicar will visit you at home a few days before the intended Baptism date to talk you through the service.
There are no great hoops to jump through with Baptism. All you need do is ring (or email) the vicar and arrange a Sunday for the Baptism to take place. At St. John's we normally do Baptisms on the first Sunday of the month at 10.00a.m. as part of the main Parish Communion service. The vicar will visit you at home a few days before the intended Baptism date to talk you through the service.
Certain details for the Baptism Register are required:
The full name of the person to be baptised
Their date of birth, the full names and occupations of the parents (if a baby is being baptised)
The full address and telephone number
The names of 3 or 4 godparents.
These are not legal requirements but they do provide a full record of the Baptism - both for the church and they also provide us with the information necessary to make out a Baptism Certificate which is your proof of the occasion.
It will be helpful to know two further things of those intending to be baptised. We need to know how many people are likely to come and support the candidate for Baptism. Some families come in great force - perhaps 50 or more. If there are several candidates in one service then we can have well over a hundred visitors in church. The other thing is video. As long as only that part of the service involving the spoken word is filmed then we are happy for the event to be filmed (once you start filming parts of the service with music in then we run into Copyright and Performing Rights legislation).
And Finally… Why have a baby baptised? One answer is that the Church has always done it, it's done it for centuries, if not millennia. Some may see it as a Thankyou to God for the safe delivery of a child. Jesus, upon whom our Christian faith is based, was himself baptised - by his cousin, John the Baptist. 'What's good enough for the Lord is good enough for me' is fair. You want the best for your child so why not have her/him christened? Give her/him the best start you can by bringing them to God and baptising them into the fellowship of the Church - in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Later in life the child may come to a service known as Confirmation where the Bishop lays hands on the young person (or adult) and says, "Confirm, O Lord, your servant, N, with your Holy Spirit." The bishop confirms the person's faith on behalf of the Church whilst the candidates confirm for themselves that which was said on their behalf all those years ago.
It will be helpful to know two further things of those intending to be baptised. We need to know how many people are likely to come and support the candidate for Baptism. Some families come in great force - perhaps 50 or more. If there are several candidates in one service then we can have well over a hundred visitors in church. The other thing is video. As long as only that part of the service involving the spoken word is filmed then we are happy for the event to be filmed (once you start filming parts of the service with music in then we run into Copyright and Performing Rights legislation).
And Finally… Why have a baby baptised? One answer is that the Church has always done it, it's done it for centuries, if not millennia. Some may see it as a Thankyou to God for the safe delivery of a child. Jesus, upon whom our Christian faith is based, was himself baptised - by his cousin, John the Baptist. 'What's good enough for the Lord is good enough for me' is fair. You want the best for your child so why not have her/him christened? Give her/him the best start you can by bringing them to God and baptising them into the fellowship of the Church - in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Later in life the child may come to a service known as Confirmation where the Bishop lays hands on the young person (or adult) and says, "Confirm, O Lord, your servant, N, with your Holy Spirit." The bishop confirms the person's faith on behalf of the Church whilst the candidates confirm for themselves that which was said on their behalf all those years ago.